Glenn Close has officially joined the cast of the Marvel Studios film, Guardians of the Galaxy. Close will play the leading member of the intergalactic Nova Corps according to a report from Deadline. Close, whose big screen credits range from The World According to Garp to 101 Dalmatians to Mars Attacks! is also well-known for television appearances including recently headlining the television series “Damages” over five seasons.

Part of Marvel Studios’ “Phase Two,” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Guardians of the Galaxy features a script from Gunn, Chris McCoy and Nicole Periman. It follows an unlikely cast of characters who must team up in order to defeat a cosmic force of epic proportions.

Filming is scheduled to begin in next month at Shepperton Studios in London, England.

The rest of the cast includes:

• Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord: Deadline.com describes the role as “the Guardians’ leader, who is the offspring of a human mother and an alien father”. Gunn explained that 80 to 100 actors auditioned, and that it was Pratt’s “very particular” take on the character that won him the role.
  
• Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer: According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Drax is a human resurrected as a green warrior with the sole purpose of killing Thanos”.
  
• Zoe Saldana as Gamora: A green-skinned humanoid who according to The Hollywood Reporter “…is the last of a species that was exterminated by a race known as the Badoon. She also happens to be a skilled assassin.” Saldana said that she would become Gamora through make-up rather than CGI or performance capture.
  
• Michael Rooker as Yondu
• Lee Pace will portray the film’s villain after originally auditioning for Star-Lord.
• Ophelia Lovibond has been cast in an unspecified role

Guardians of the Galaxy is scheduled to be released on August 1, 2014, and will be released in 3D.